Texting and Holding Hands
by I'll Break Your Heart
Summary: Afraid. Shiki was afraid of being more than friends. She wanted to be more though. However, she may have waited to long when Eri asks for Neku's number...ONESHOT


**Back to TWEWY! Let's start it up! (TWEWY fans should now this! Comment if you know who said this!)**

Hands

They always walked close to each other and sometimes their hands would brush.

He never made any attempt to hold her hands and she never made any attempt to hold his. They both felt that if they held hands, they would have to talk about _them._

"Are you two dating?"

Eri often asked Shiki this question. She would splutter and gasp and rapidly shake her head. "We're just friends." Shiki would say.

"Hm, okay."

Shiki didn't know if she wanted to date him. After all, the word "date" scared her. Dating didn't seem like a very Neku thing to do. Nor was it really Shiki's thing. Sure in the past Eri would set her up with a couple "blind dates," but all the dates had ended in the sentence, "I think you're cool. Can I have Eri's number because you two are such good friends?"

Maybe that's where her jealously was fueled. Being constantly rejected and feeling like an idiot. At the time her mind would tell her things that would bring her confidence down. Eri was prettier than her. She was more talented than her. And she was more noticeable. Most of the time, Shiki would end up being Eri's shadow. Eri didn't mean to upstage Shiki. She was just the first thing that caught everyone's eye. Shiki was jealous. _Was_. But now she had other friends. She could never replace Eri, but it felt good that she had finally broken out of the shadow she had been trapped in and found herself.

"Why ain't you two datin yet?"

Beat would occasionally ask this question and every time he did, Shiki's face would turn red and Neku would casually tell Beat to shut up. Rhyme just rolled her eyes. Beat would persist until Neku would say that he was paying for ramen, making him shut up and run to the ramen shop.

Shiki didn't want to ruin the comfortable atmosphere their group had made. She didn't want to push Neku away. She wanted things to stay like this. She had separated her two worlds. Her friends on this side and Eri on that side. She was afraid that if the two mixed, things would be disastrous.

Eri though, somehow found her way in. She saw them, their group, walking along the streets of Shibuya. Beat yelling at the group to "hustle it up 'cause Neku's paying," Rhyme walking calmly behind him, and Neku and Shiki walking next to each other. She saw how their hands would brush and how they would both pull back. Her keen eyes noticed the blush on Shiki's face and the slightly smaller one on the boy's. As soon as she saw the group separate, she pounced on Shiki. She demanded questions in the "Eri" type of way. Shiki had told her, but Eri knew she was holding back. She didn't question it though.

She had asked her about the boy and this had made Shiki's cheeks grow a deeper red. It soon became a daily game of "are you two dating," and Shiki's response was always

"No."

The conversation would then end. Until one day…

"Then maybe I should."

Shiki looked up. Eri was dreamily pulling on her straw. They were in a café.

"Should what?"

"Should date that cute guy you've been hanging out with. Neku was him name right?"

That's when Shiki's world began to crumble.

"Can I have his number?"

"Huh?"

"His number." Eri said.

And Shiki had given it to her. Eri smiled, "Text him tonight!" she had said before getting up and leaving the café.

Shiki watched her go. She then looked down at her hands. She thought about her hands, she thought about his.

"I should've held them." She whispered to herself.

That night she couldn't sleep. She kept on thinking of what Eri was going to text him. She knew subconsciously that Neku would say no and reject her, but she also knew that when Eri wanted something, she didn't stop until she got it. Shiki looked at her clock.

"2:31, figures."

She got up and looked out her window. A street light was flickering on and off. Shiki sighed.

She really did like Neku, but she felt that they should get to know each other as friends before they started talking about _them_. She wanted them to get comfortable with each other, now that he wasn't antisocial and she wasn't in Eri's body.

"What if he starts liking her because that's the face he learned to trust in the UG?" Shiki asked herself.

No scratch that. She didn't like Neku. To Shiki it felt like they had passed the point of "like" a long time ago.

She loved him.

The vibration of her phone caught her off guard. "Who in the hell-" she muttered to herself. She went over and picked it up.

_Shiki, I really need 2 C U! Come 2 park ASAP! This is URGTENT!_

_~Eri_

"Urgent huh?" Shiki said sighing. "Well it's not like I'm going to sleep tonight."

She brushed her teeth, changed out of her pajamas, and tidied herself up a little. Putting on her glasses and grabbing her phone, she walked out of her apartment and into the cool morning.

Walking to the park didn't take long and when she got there, she saw no signs of Eri. Sighing she plopped herself on a park bench and waited. Ten minutes. Fifteen. Twenty.

_"Where is she?"_ Shiki thought to herself.

"Shiki?"

_"That's not Eri." _Shiki thought to herself. She got up and saw the orange haired boy, standing close to the bench. "Neku?" she asked incredulously, "What are you doing here?"

"You told me to come here."

"Huh?"

"You've been texting me non-stop to get up and meet you here. Why didn't you tell me you got a new phone and had to change your number?"

"I never-" Shiki began. Her phone vibrated. She looked down at it.

_If you don't make a move soon I'm going to really steal him away!_

_~Eri_

"Oh Eri." Shiki said.

"Eri?"

"Yeah. She wanted your number and I gave it to her. I'm guessing she was pretending to be me."

"Oh."

"Sorry about that."

"It's fine. I should've none it wasn't you anyway." Neku said mumbling to himself. "You would never send something like that."

"Something like what?"

"Well Eri sent me this." He said pulling out his phone and passing it to Shiki. Shiki looked at the message he received.

_Neku, I want to talk about us. It's been keeping me awake and I'm scared that some other girl's going to steal you away. Neku, I have something to tell you so please meet me the park now!_

_~Shiki_

Shiki blushed a little and looked at Neku. He was looking away, his face also red.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

They stood there awkwardly. Neku was wearing his signature outfit. Minus his headphones. Shiki looked at him. She thought about what Eri had texted her. "I have to do this." She muttered to herself.

"Have to do what?"

"I have to…have to…."

"Do you want to talk about us?" Neku asked bluntly.

"…Yes."

"Well where do you want to start?"

"I-I don't know. It feels like there's no beginning to start from."

"Well let's start from when you were my Entrance Fee."

Shiki was taken aback. Neku had always been blunt and to the point. "I really care about you." He said, refusing to make eye contact. "I wanted to protect you. I still want to protect you. I-I want to, to-" Neku couldn't finish his sentence. His face was crimson, and he was looking intently at the ground. Shiki took a deep breath.

"I want us to be more than friends." She said. Neku looked up and locked eyes with her. Her face felt warm but she continued. "I want us to be more than friends." She said, a little more confidently. Making her hands into a fist and closing her eyes, she gathered all the courage she could muster and yelled, "I love you Neku Sakuraba!"

Silence. Pure silence.

Shiki was terrified to open her eyes. She was afraid of the expression he had on his face. Anger? Confusion? Betrayal? Fear? She could feel herself trembling.

"I-I.."

Shiki opened her eyes. Neku was looking away from her.

"I-I…"

"Neku?"

"…You too." He said softly.

"You too?"

"Love."

"Love?"

"I," he said looking at Shiki, "love you too. I didn't want to jeopardize our friendship, but I want to be more too. I want to," he said getting closer to Shiki, "I want to go on that date we promised."

Shiki's eyes widened. "You remembered?" She asked. Neku smiled.

"Never forgot."

A smile broke out on Shiki's face. "Neku.." she whispered.

"Shiki."

Both of their phones went off. They broke their eye contact and looked at their phones. Their eyes widened. The same message flashed across their screen.

_3:41 is the best time for kissing!_

_~Eri_

They both blushed and looked at each other.

"Did you-?"

"Yeah."

"From Eri?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry about her, Neku."

"It's okay. Anyway it's a good excuse."

"Excuse-?"

Shiki's eye widened. Neku had leaned in and he was now kissing her. She returned the kiss. Her hand went to his. He took it.

_"Finally,"_ she thought.

Their hand remained entwined as they kissed in the coolness of the morning.

**TWEWY, I felt like it was a good time to write another fanfic of Shiki and Neku. CUTEST COUPLE! Comment please!**


End file.
